


Sweet Serenade

by Wafflesrock



Series: The Moments Between [3]
Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, First Time Blow Jobs, Interspecies Sex, Night before the Omega Relay, Oral Sex, Smut, Vaginal Sex, Xenophilia, smut with feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-04
Updated: 2020-06-04
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:08:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24542857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wafflesrock/pseuds/Wafflesrock
Summary: Jane Shepard has wanted something more with Garrus since they first worked together. Now, on the eve of the aptly named suicide mission, the two take their relationship to a new level.
Relationships: Female Shepard/Garrus Vakarian
Series: The Moments Between [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1757308
Comments: 23
Kudos: 105





	Sweet Serenade

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Some_Writer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Some_Writer/gifts).



Jane Shepard’s lullaby had been the perpetual white noise of ships for as long as she could remember; the hum of engines, soft clicks of controls and faint buzz of power through the walls. A spaceship was never truly quiet. Growing up the child of two active-duty Alliance Officers, Jane found comfort in a ship’s song, as outside the yawning, infinite muteness of space cradled them against her star-sewn bosom. 

The SR-1 had a cadence all its own. The Normandy had been a thing of hope and beauty. A testament that together, two races as divergent as humans and turians could create something more wondrous than either could have conceived alone. It was a symphony of engineering and a chorus of innovation.

The Normandy SR-2 had the same ensemble - the same conductor, now that she’d returned from the dead - but the song wasn’t the same. Things that should have clinked, thrummed, where once there’d been the familiar grumble of the air recirculating, a cool, melancholic whistle lingered.

The main battery was about the only place that sounded like she remembered. Jane had initially told herself that was the reason she lingered in the place, talking to Garrus long after her cursory check-ins. Admittedly, the company was phenomenal. She didn’t have to second guess with Garrus. When he said something, he meant it. The rocket had left him with a giant bandage covering a quarter of his face and neck, yet he maintained his witty, sardonic sense of humor. 

The hero-worship had vanished from his gaze, but he still regarded her warmly. Whoever knew that eyes like polar glaciers could burn? He carried himself differently, too. Gone was the reckless rush to shoot and his ever-present fidgeting. Garrus had aged in the two years since her death, but like a fine wine, he’d become a better, more confident version of himself. After all, the best vintages were often those that had withstood drought and hardship. Things didn’t come much harder then what he’d overcome on Omega.

Getting her old friend back meant more to Jane than Garrus would perhaps ever know. After Ashley’s suspicion, Miranda’s professional aloofness, and Jacob’s less than professional admiration, hearing Garrus’ whiskey-smoke voice as he joked and made small talk was a balm for her battered soul. 

She’d always found Garrus attractive - even on the SR-1. Jane had ignored her crush then, the mission was too important. Dying had a way of putting things in perspective. Garrus had stated he was unattached. He’d had a one-night stand or two on Omega, but nothing serious.

“No one’s waiting for me anywhere,” he’d told her with a wry mandible flick. “But who knows? Maybe next time we hit Tuchanka I’ll get some offers. I hear krogan love scars.” A hand ghosted over his injury, talons not quite touching the thick gauze from the bandage.

Jane had just managed not to tell him “krogan aren’t the only ones who find scars attractive.” The timing wasn’t right though. He was still too raw, emotional scars from Omega cutting deeper than those on hide and plates. 

But maybe, she’d allowed herself to fantasize one night in the artificial dark of her cabin, maybe she should make her feelings known. See if he wanted to turn their already close relationship into something deeper. Something more. 

Jane had dated both before the Alliance and while an active marine. In all those instances though, her partners had propositioned her. Somehow, she knew she’d have to be the one to initiate things this time. 

The opportunity presented itself during an otherwise innocuous conversation. 

“How do turians handle high-stress missions?” she asked, leaning forward with her elbows on her knees from where she sat on a crate. 

“With violence, usually,” Garrus responded, reclining against his console. Jane allowed her eyes to wander over his heavy blue armor. She wondered, not for the first time, what Garrus looked like beneath all the steel and ceramic plating. While aboard the SR-1 he’d taken to showering at odd hours and so she’d never seen him. 

She’d seen  _ pictures  _ of naked turians. When she was fifteen she had gotten hold of a medical journal. It was all very clinical to be sure, but the images were the kind that left a lasting impression on a teenage mind. A big, blue,  _ ribbed  _ impression. 

Jane shook her head to clear it of the images that had taken root as Garrus launched into the story of a sparring match. “I assume you took her down gently?” Jane teased when he got to the fight. Garrus was less a soldier and more a predator in hand-to-hand combat. She still managed to hold her own though. The scout he was talking about probably couldn’t say that. 

“Actually, we were the best hand-to-hand combatants on the ship. It was brutal,” he recounted, flicking his good mandible out at the memory. “We ended up holding a tie-breaker in her quarters. I had reach, but she had flexibility.” He turned to give her a turian grin. “More than one way to work off stress,” he concluded. 

Jane snickered, though a stab of jealousy for the recon scout stabbed her in the ribs. It was so easy for turians, she internally sighed. No regulations saying they couldn’t… couldn’t…

“Sounds like you’re carrying a lot of tension,” she said, the words tumbling out before she could second-guess herself. “Maybe I could help you relieve it?” She forced herself to remain calm, to breathe normally. The  _ last  _ thing she wanted was for Garrus’s damn visor to clue him in on her haywire vitals. 

“Oh! Didn’t think you’d feel like sparring, Commander.”

Jane bit back a groan. Of course, he’d force her to spell it out. Had she been this oblivious to people flirting with her? Or maybe she was doing it wrong. It’d been… well, best not to dwell on how long it’d been since she tried flirting with anyone. 

“Not what I meant,” she said, rising from the crate. “What if we skipped right to the tie-breaker? We could test your reach, and  _ my  _ flexibility.” God, it had sounded sexy in her head but now that it was out it sounded so,  _ so  _ lame. Hopefully not desperate. She didn’t think she could handle Garrus seeing her as desperate. 

“Oh!” Garrus’s eyes widened in surprise as understanding gripped him. “I didn’t- hmm.”

He’s going to turn you down, her mind screamed. You’ve ruined your friendship. Congratulations Jane, you’ve made it forever awkward with your best friend because you were too horny to think it-

“If we can figure out a way to make it work,” his voice cut through the mental reprimand, “then, yeah. Definitely.”

Jane just managed to give Garrus a responding smile before forcing herself to leave. As soon as the battery doors shut behind her, she let out the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. He’d said yes. He actually wanted to take their relationship to another level. A  _ physical  _ level. Jane wasn’t sure the word  _ giddy _ could ever describe her, but at the moment, she was downright giddy. Best not to push the issue though, she tempered herself. Garrus would need time to thoroughly consider it.

She’d given him space after that conversation. She wanted Garrus to be sure this was what he wanted, too. No pressure, no expectations, she’d told him. His answer had still been yes, and Jane allowed herself to feel excited. Something good hadn’t happened to her in a long time. Unless you counted being resurrected, but she wasn’t sure that counted some days. After all, she’d only been revived to embark on a suicide mission. 

Garrus was as good as it got, in her mind. So good, she struggled with whether she deserved him. Commander Shepard was the savior of the Citadel. The galaxy’s only hope against the Collectors. She didn’t get to be happy, she was the caterer to others’ happiness. 

Even after reassuring Garrus on at least three occasions that she wanted him - and getting a slightly mortifying lecture from Mordin, complete with turian-human kama-sutra - she was still convincing herself that she deserved something selfish. 

They’d planned to get together before hitting the Collector base. But, she was still caught off guard when she stepped out of the shower to find an incredibly nervous Garrus in her quarters. He was dressed in a clown-bright tunic and holding a bottle of champagne so tightly she swore she could hear the glass creaking. 

“I brought wine,” he blurted out. “Best I could afford on a vigilante’s salary.” A shrill, subvocal whine was emanating from his chest. It drowned out the noise of her fish tank and was layered with a warbling thrum. Taken aback at this resounding show of anxiety, Jane could only stare, which served to make Garrus even more anxious. 

He rushed over to the music console and frantically pressed the controls. Terrible club music filled the air as he spread his arms wide, though Jane didn’t miss him gulp. “If you were a turian,” he began uncertainly, “I’d be complementing your waist or your fringe. So uh… your hair looks  _ good  _ and your waist is… very supportive. I hope that’s not offensive in human culture. Crap! I knew I should have watched more of the vids Joker gave me!”

Jane burst out laughing at this confession. “You asked  _ Joker  _ for romantic advice?”

The loud whining sound dropped a few octaves. “I uh… I didn’t know where else to turn,” he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. Jane walked over, turning off the obnoxious music.

“Well, consider me seduced, smooth talker,” she replied, trying to add a sultry purr to her voice and lighten the mood. 

Garrus sighed, shoulders slumping as she came to stand in front of him. “I just want something to go right,” he whispered. “I’ve just… so much has gone wrong. My career at C-Sec, Sidonis, I just want something to go right, for once. And I want… I want it to be you.”

Jane’s teasing response shriveled up on her tongue as a cascade of emotions threatened to overwhelm her. “I want that too, Garrus,” she told him, voice sounding wet. “I really,  _ really _ want something right - something good - with you.” She reached up to gently run her fingers over Garrus’s bandage and scarred mandible. “Sometimes, I don’t think I deserve you,” she confessed into the scant space between them. 

“Don't deserve  _ me?”  _ Garrus’ mandibles dropped for an instant before he gently cradled the back of her head, bringing her brow to rest reassuringly against his crest. “You’re amazing, Shepard. Not just as Commander Shepard, but, well, as you.” His eyes closed and a low, vibrating purr stuttered in his chest. Jane wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing herself as close to him as physically possible. He was warm and solid, a grounding force in the centrifuge her life had become. 

“So,” Garrus eventually hedged. “Are we, um. I’ve watched some very, eh, enlightening vids. It can work. Between us, I mean. Uh. There was a lot more turian-human porn than I’d imagined. Not that I’d ever really thought about it before. Do you… still want to?” An unspoken question lingered under the words, like the submerged portion of an iceberg. Did she still want  _ him? _

Jane gently pulled away from his embrace before slowly, sweetly kissing his mouth. Garrus gasped, body going totally rigid before suddenly kissing her back. Or at least he was trying. It was hard without lips. Jane grinned as she broke the kiss, face heating up in a shy blush at the look of awe etched into Garrus’ face. 

“Never kissed anyone before,” he chuckled after a moment. 

“Do you like it?” she asked. She wouldn’t be offended if the answer was no. There were other ways to express affection. 

“I don’t know,” Garrus drawled, pretending to consider it. “Think we should try again. Maybe a few times. Just to be sure whether I like it or not.”

“Of course,” she answered with feigned seriousness before standing on her tip-toes, lips pressed to his once more. His mouth plates weren’t without give. The texture reminded her of thick rubber, like the sole of a boot. Experimentally, she licked his parted mouth, moaning in delight and surprise when his long, slender tongue snaked out to tangle with hers. 

He tasted like cardamom and winter spices - warm tea on a stormy night snuggled next to a fire. He was alien, yet still familiar. Jane let out a soft whimper when he pulled back, eyes no longer blue but nearly black as his pupils dilated with the familiar signs of lust.

“Bed?” she asked, nodding toward it. 

Wordlessly, they moved to sit facing each other on the mattress. Garrus carefully set the wine down on the floor. For the better, Jane thought. She wanted to remember every detail of their time together unclouded by alcohol. 

Carefully, Jane’s hands fell to the intricate looking clasps of his tunic. She glanced up at him and he nodded, a nervous sounding, twittering noise fluttering in his chest. She felt like a child at Christmas as she unbuckled the front of his shirt. The claps weren’t made for human fingers, however, and it was taking her far too long to get the damn thing off. She huffed in frustration, even as Garrus chuckled. 

“How about I do mine and you do yours?” he offered. 

“Good idea,” she agreed, moving to strip. Years of military living had removed any sense of modesty and, thanks to drills and emergency drops, she could change out of her clothing faster than anyone she knew. She was bare before Garrus had managed to fully pull his pants down. 

He was lean, but in a wiry way. His body suggested the ability for sudden bursts of speed, with powerful arm and leg muscles. His plates took on an almost incandescent sheen in the light from her aquarium; pure, perfect quicksilver made flesh. 

Garrus cleared his throat, and Jane realized she’d been gawking. “So, see something you like?” he joked, holding his arms out. His words were belied by the same nervous sounding subvocals from before. 

“You’re beautiful, Garrus.” The words were out before she could stop them. But it was true. 

She’d been considered pretty, once. Thanks to Cerberus, now she looked like an overly enhanced Hollywood actress. Flawless in all the wrong ways. Not pretty. Not truly herself. But  _ Garrus. _ His plates bore cracks and chips from his time on Omega, since they seemed relatively new. The faint glow of cybernetics pulsed beneath the bandage on his neck and face. He was captivating. Truly the most handsome man she’d ever seen. 

Garrus’s mandibles pulled away from his face before snapping back. “So are you,” he said, taking a step toward her. 

Jane chuckled. This wasn’t the time to correct him. Instead, she ran her hands along his keel, pulling his head down for another kiss. She was needier this time, fire kindling in her abdomen at the feel of Garrus’s ungloved hand gripping her waist. Remembering the advice from Mordin’s pamphlets, she moved to grab Garrus’s unplated waist in turn. His hide felt like suede, smooth and soft. 

Garrus gasped before a deep, subvocal growl rippled through him. Thrilled at his response, Jane moved her other hand to the patch of sensitive skin beneath his fringe, kneading it with strong fingers, grateful she’d read through Mordin’s documents. 

The moan Garrus made as he sagged against her was pure sin. Jane grinned against his neck, feeling like a sex deity. She was going to give Garrus the best night of his life. Some recon scout wasn’t going to have anything on-

Large, rough hands moved to experimentally cup her breasts, stealing her train of thought and halting her ministrations. Tentatively, Garrus rubbed his thumb over a pert nipple, making her shudder. It’d been  _ far  _ too long since she’d been intimate with someone and her body responded with eager, needy whimpers, every nerve ending overcharged and receptive to his touch. 

“They’re squishier than I expected,” he mused. 

Jane opened her eyes, staring up at him in heady confusion. “What?”

“Your breasts,” he explained. “They’re… squishy.” He lightly squeezed them as though to emphasize his point. 

“Super romantic observation,” Jane deadpanned, noticing that he still had his damned visor on. “Would you take that off?” she asked, pointing to his head where the visor obnoxiously flashed lines of foreign text and numbers. 

“Um. I have notes on it,” Garrus mumbled. 

“You have notes on it? As in,  _ sex  _ notes?” Jane tried not to laugh as Garrus looked away with what could only be described as embarrassment pulling at his mandibles. 

“I just want to make you feel good,” he said softly. “There was so much in the vids on what to do and where to touch, I didn’t want to forget something.”

Jane’s heart thudded against her ribs. She didn’t deserve Garrus, but damn it, she wanted him anyway.  _ God  _ did she want him. 

“How about I tell you what I like, and you tell me,” she suggested, reaching up to carefully remove his visor and set it on her nightstand. 

“Yeah, alright,” Garrus nodded. “That um,  _ thing  _ you were doing behind my fringe felt, really good.”

“This?” Jane asked, returning her hand to the soft patch of hide. 

_ “Yes,”  _ Garrus moaned, mandibles flaring. 

Jane redoubled her efforts, almost missing his question. “Where should I touch you?” he gasped. 

“My nipples, like before,” she responded breathlessly as Garrus moved to gently pinch one while rolling the other beneath his thumb. “Fuck, Garrus,” she panted hotly against his plated chest. “I want you,” she managed. 

“I want you too,” he breathed, voice husky and deeply flanged, reminding her of a cello. 

Somehow, they made it onto the mattress, lying down facing each other. Jane noticed that Garrus’s groin plates were parted and experimentally, she brushed her finger over the tip of his concealed cock. Garrus groaned, and swiftly the rest of him unsheathed. 

Seeing pictures in a pamphlet or vid was not the same as having it right in front of you. Part of her wanted to make a joke about Garrus really being a _ Big Guy  _ when it came to certain parts of his anatomy. Another, more insistent part of her sang arias about how amazing he was going to feel. 

Reaching between them, she gripped his cock, stroking him from base to tip. Turian males produced their own natural lubrication, and Jane squeezed her thighs together, intimately aware at how damp her own entrance had become. 

An idea came to her. Turians lacked lips, and if Garrus had never been with someone outside his species…

“Can I use my mouth on you?” she asked, even as her hand continued to pump him. 

Garrus’ eyes flew open. “Um, you mean… I saw in the vids, the human using their mouth on, on the turian. It looks like it feels… really good?”

“Better than good,” she assured him with a smirk. “Can I?”

“Uh, yeah. I mean, yeah,” he answered, moving to sit up. 

Jane scooted down the mattress until she was face level with his erection. Slowly, she licked a heated trail up his shaft. His taste reminded her of gingerbread and she repeated her actions before lowering her mouth over him. Garrus froze before a bone rattling moan left him. 

“Please, Shepard,” Garrus gasped, a three-fingered hand coming to tangle in her hair. “I want, I need-”

Hollowing her cheeks, Jane bobbed her head up and down as she swallowed as much of him as she could. A hand came to stroke at his base as she did so. She hummed around him, relishing in the near-silent squeaks and chirps he made. 

“Sta, stop!” he suddenly cried. 

Jane lifted her head, worried she’d hurt him. 

“That was good,” he reassured her. “ _ Too _ good. I’d like to be inside you when I cum.”

Jane eagerly pushed against his chest, encouraging him to lie on his back. After groping around for the pillows and tucking them beneath his fringe and hips, he complied. 

Straddling him, Jane gave his length another pump before positioning him at her entrance and sinking down. The slow, steady stretch stole her breath as he filled her completely.  _ “Shit!”  _ she bit out once he was fully seated. He felt incredible. His cock pressed against all the right places and as his hands came to grip her waist, Jane’s body began to tingle with an impending orgasm. Forcing herself to move, she braced her hands on either side of Garrus’s keel before lifting nearly off him and then quickly slamming back down.

“You’re perfect!” Garrus practically sobbed as she set a relentless pace. “Ah, Shepard-”

“Jane,” she gasped, eyes opening to stare into his own. His mandibles pulled away from his open mouth, displaying his sharp, almost alligator-like teeth. Turians were apex predators, but here, with her, Garrus was just that. Garrus. Her Garrus. And she desperately wanted to be his Jane. “Call me Jane,” she repeated through labored breaths. 

_ “Jane,” _ he growled, rolling his hips to thrust up into her. She cursed, and Garrus moved his legs, taloned toes digging into the mattress as he gripped her firmly by the hips and began to pound up into her. Jane’s orgasm crashed over her like a tidal wave as she came with a silent scream.

As she regained herself, she became aware that Garrus hadn’t cum. “You didn’t go?” she confirmed. 

“Wanted to savor the moment,” he answered, still breathing heavily. “There were some… positions I wanted to try.”

“Like what?” Jane said, grinding against him and making the rolling purr emanating from his chest stutter. 

“There was one,” he managed, “where the human woman had her leg up, with the turian between them?”

Jane grinned. She was more than ready for round two and getting the opportunity to try yet another thing Garrus had never done before was exhilarating. She moved off him to lie on the mattress, lifting a leg. Garrus straddled her prone leg, positioning himself before pushing flush. They both moaned at the feeling of being connected again. He held her raised leg against the side of his face, tenderly caressing a mandible against it.

He moved slowly at first, watching her intently. Jane gasped with pleasure, pushing against him as he gradually sped up the tempo of his thrusts. The sound of wet flesh smacking against hide filled the air, along with soft grunts and whispered entreaties of “more, yes, faster, please!”

“I’m close,” Garrus panted as Jane gripped the bed sheet, her leg held tight to his chest.  _ “Spirits, _ I’m close Jane! Where should- can I-”

Somehow, she understood his choked off question and as her release swelled and engulfed her, she unabashedly screamed, “cum in me, Garrus!” 

Garrus thrust into her twice more before she cried out her release, the feeling of his hot seed filling her as he roared out something her translator couldn’t decipher.

He slowly released his death grip on her leg before crumpling next to her on the bed. “Wow,” he breathed. 

“Yeah,” Jane agreed, rolling to face him. She caught her bottom lip between her teeth. “So. First time with a human a night to treasure?”

Garrus huffed a laugh, pulling her into his arms. “Definitely,” he whispered, moving to press his brow to her forehead in what she’d come to consider a turian kiss. 

Jane sighed. Even more than the mind-blowing sex, being held, feeling safe, feeling  _ wanted, _ left her feather-light. For a moment, she could push the aptly named suicide mission to the side. For now, it was just the two of them, with Garrus’s soft, soothing purr and strong, caring arms wrapped around her.

When they’d eventually have to part ways, don armor and rifle and blade, Jane would ask him if this could be more than a one-time thing. She knew he’d say yes, just like she knew he’d watch her six and keep the Normandy canons calibrated. But for now, she was content to listen to him purr. A sweet serenade that maybe, just maybe, she deserved. 

**Author's Note:**

> Every shakarian author has a take on the night before the Omega Relay. This is mine. Huge thanks to angelwingsl3 (Marie_Fanwriter) for beta reading his story. I gift this to the fabulous Some_Writer for being an all around amazing friend and cinnamon roll. <3


End file.
